Darrell Hair mulls legal action against ICC

Sydney:Dumped by the International Cricket Council for his role in the ball-tampering episode, banned umpire Darrell Hair is contemplating legal actions against the ICC, according to media reports here.

Though Hair refused to disclose his cards and said he would make a public announcement at some stage, the Australian umpire, speaking from his home in Lincoln, England, told Sydney Morning Herald that he has not ruled out a legal action against the governing body.

''I don't know what's going to happen. I'm not going to make any comment at this stage,'' he said.

Asked when he would make the announcement, Hair said, ''That all depends on what develops in the next few days.'' Hair was dropped from the ICC panel 17 months before the end of his contract and ICC would discuss the issue with him, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said.

Hair, however, has weakened his position by his offer to resign if he was paid $650,000 .

Mr Speed, meanwhile, sounded ready for a legal battle with Hair.

''ICC has a number of lawyers on staff. We're well aware of our legal position.

''It's correct that Darrell Hair is contracted until March 2008.

We need to have some further discussions with Darrell before we get ahead of ourselves,'' he told reporters in Mumbai.

The daily claimed seven of the ICC executive board's ten full members voted against Hair in the two-day Mumbai meeting.

The Oval Test fiasco saw the match being awarded to hosts England after Pakistan, penalised for ball-tampering, refused to play.

ICC President Percy Sonn said, ''It was clear from discussions that the ICC Board has lost confidence in Mr Hair.

''As such, it was resolved that he should not be appointed to international matches involving ICC Full Members,'' he announced.